Media Releases

What's lurking in your home?

26 Jun 2017

Could a healthier home help you and your family breathe easier?

More than half of the respondents in a recent Sensitive
Choice survey named dust as one of their major challenges in creating a healthy
home – but there are hidden asthma and allergy triggers lurking all around our
homes.

“The effect of dust can be immediate and obvious,
such as uncontrollable sneezing when you fling open old curtains. Yet dust and
other triggers around the home can be the hidden cause of more concerning
health impacts, such as flare-ups in asthma or allergies,” said Siobhan Brophy
from Sensitive Choice, a program by the National Asthma Council Australia.

“The good news is that there are many simple and
effective ways to make your home healthier,” Ms. Brophy said.

To help you identify and tackle the hidden triggers
in your home, Sensitive Choice has launched a series of 12 one-minute Healthy Homes videos. These informative videos
walk you through a typical family home and discuss the major trigger points for
asthma and allergies, and provide practical ways in which you can make your
home healthier – like getting rid of dust!

Ms. Brophy said the video series covers all the
main rooms of the house, as well as outdoor areas and pets. It highlights the
best strategies for tackling the triggers in each room.

“The lounge room video, for example, features dusting
and cleaning tips for different allergens, plus the types of products you should
and shouldn’t be using,” she said.

Understanding your family’s asthma and
allergy triggers is important. You can then focus your efforts on the
things that will make the most difference.

If you have asthma or allergies, ideally get someone else to do the cleaning for you as most cleaning will still stir up some dust and allergens. If you can, stay out of the room during cleaning and for at least 20 minutes afterwards.

Australia has one of the highest incidences of allergy in the world, with more than four million people affected. One in ten Australians has asthma.

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